Apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise including: A seat mounted on the base frame; handle linkages each inclinedly mounted at right and left sides of the base frame to form an angle ¥á in front of the seat; a bearing box mounted on the front end of the handle linkage; first and second handle frames rotatably mounted on a handle shaft; a handle side lever fixed between the first handle frame and the bearing box in such a manner as to form a predetermined angle with respect to the first handle frame; and an auxiliary linkage connected at an upper end to the handle side lever via a ball joint and mounted at lower end on a fixed lever fixed to the lower end of the front side of the base frame via a ball joint to form a distance (d).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus for three-dimensionalanaerobic exercise capable of attaining stability in three-dimensionalmotion trajectories necessary for the human body, and more particularly,to an apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise, which appliesa reduction linkage concept, but not a four-rod linkage conceptdisclosed in Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2001-0059174 and10-2001-0078712, previously filed by the inventor of the presentinvention, for safe three-dimensional motion trajectories in approach toeach of various regions of the human body, thereby increasingdurability, reducing manufacturing costs, and realizing motiontrajectories of various kinds, which are merits of the three-dimensionalexercise.

In addition, the present invention relates to an apparatus forthree-dimensional anaerobic exercise, which can provide a newapproaching method for overcoming lots of limitations of Korean PatentApplications, filed on May 17, 2002 and May 27, 2002 by the inventor ofthe present invention, in basic configurations such as a rocking anglerange of ball joints, and an angular motion range of a handle, and aform change of a horizontal trajectory of a linkage.

BACKGROUND ART

As shown in FIGS. 7, 9a and 9b of U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,757, exerciseusing the reduction linkage concept imposes burden on an exerciser'swrists, forearms and shoulders and involves a danger of injury when anangular motion of the handle is simply applied to the human body sincean angle of the handle is subject to the angular motion of a reductionlinkage. As a result, the exercise using the reduction linkage conceptcannot attain safety and variety, which are characteristics of thethree-dimensional motion trajectory.

Disadvantages of the exercise using the reduction linkage concept willbe described in more detail as follows. Since a handle shaft and thelower end of the handle are connected directly with each other andrectangular in an “L” shape, the angle of the handle is influenced bythe angular motion of a handle linkage. So, as shown in FIG. 9b, anglesg and g′ are formed at a start point and an end point of the motion, andthereby, the handle is not rectangular to the movement direction of thehuman body as shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b of the application previouslyfiled by the inventor of the present invention, and in drawings of U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,997,447, 5,989,165 and 6,071,216.

Therefore, it is difficult that the prior arts provide a safelythree-dimensional exercise as imposing burden on the exerciser's wrists,forearms and shoulders. The reason is that movement of the third linkageof the four-rod linkage is not greatly influenced by the angular motionof the first and second linkages, but the angular motion in thereduction linkage concept is transferred to the angle of the handle asit is.

In more detail, the three-dimensional exercise of the reduction linkageconcept has a limitation in realistic approach, but can be applied to arehabilitation program for a predetermined movement area of the humanbody since the handle is idly rotated on a bearing as shown in FIG. 13.

The origin of the term “the initial load machine of Japan Tottori-ken”of Japanese Patent (shown in FIG. 13) resides in the fact that amovement range is applied only to an initial primary section (I) whenthe movement range is divided into three as shown in FIG. 14: an initialsection (I), a middle section (II), and a final section (III).

In the exercise using the reduction linkage concept, in view of thestructure of the handle without regard to characteristics of the angularmotion of the linkage, the primary load machine of Japanese Patent,which provides an idle rotation, is realistic rather than U.S. Pat. No.5,769,757 and can provide a safe exercise in spite of the movementwithin a restricted section.

The L-shaped handle where the handle shaft and the end of the handle aredirectly connected to each other as shown in FIG. 7 realizes convexmotion trajectories from the human body as shown in FIGS. 9 a and 9 b,and so, cannot realize concave motion trajectories necessary for thehuman body. The convex trajectories are one of characteristics of thetypical angular motion of the handle when the end of the handle isdirectly connected to the handle shaft. As shown in FIG. 4, as a side ofthe handle must be directly connected to the handle shaft to obtain theconcave trajectories, which are most of the three-dimensional motiontrajectories of the human body, the L-shaped handle shows a limitationin realizing the three-dimensional motion trajectories of the humanbody. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,967,954, 5,562,577, 5,997,447,and 5,582,564, recently, a great deal of studies and attempts have beenmade to develop exercise devices for realizing motion trajectoriesnecessary for the human body and safe and stable angle of the handle.

As shown in FIG. 10, the prior art has limitations in realizing a twistangle of 60 to 120 degrees required by the human body due to the rockingangle (40˜50 degrees) of a restricted ball joint since the ball joint ismounted in a horizontal direction from an auxiliary linkage.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, as the ball joint has a restrictedrocking angle (40˜50 degrees) in a vertical direction where a circularmotion is carried out, the ball joint can secure the angular motion onlyby axial mounting suitable for the direction of the angular motion.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, a handle side lever for the angularmotion is not mounted integrally with the handle, but must be mountedopposite to the handle from a bearing housing.

As shown in FIG. 11, if the handle side lever is mounted opposite to ahandle frame from a bearing box, a ball joint connection point locatedat the lower end portion of the auxiliary linkage must be moved to aposition lower than a shaft of a handle linkage to obtain a proper angleof the handle.

In this case, since the length of the handle linkage must be shortenedor the auxiliary linkage must be enlarged, considering that the humanbody is 160˜19 cm in height and 45˜80 cm in arm length, the handlelinkage performs lots of angular motions (V, V′) as a basic motiontrajectory as the exercise device is enlarged or the handle linkage isshortened, and so, the human body may show rejection symptoms.

Particularly, if the auxiliary linkage is larger than the handle linkageas shown in FIG. 12 a, in a section x, an angular motion distance y ofthe handle is successively increased, but if the auxiliary linkage isshortened as shown in FIG. 12 b, the angular motion distance y issuccessively decreased, so that the length of the auxiliary linkage mayhave an influence on the three-dimensional motion trajectories of thehuman body and the form of the convex or concave motion trajectories inview of a plane as shown in FIG. 5.

Therefore, the length of the auxiliary linkage must be similar to orshorter than that of the handle linkage to set an even or proportionalangular momentum of the handle and to realize stable motiontrajectories. If the auxiliary linkage is longer than the handlelinkage, as the angular motion of the handle is rapidly increased and amovement range (a) is varied according to a figure of the human body, itis difficult to provide proper motion trajectories. The auxiliarylinkage and the handle linkage must not be influenced by any factorsexcepting a distance (d) between the handle linkage and the auxiliarylinkage.

As shown in FIGS. 17 to 21, a handle side lever must closely approachthe auxiliary linkage in the case where a cross joint is used, which isone of components of the present invention. Otherwise, since theauxiliary linkage must be longer and the position of the lower sidelever must be lowered, the lower lever of the cross joint has acomplicated structure and there are lots of restrictions in applyingangular motion displacement by section.

Moreover, the realization of the motion trajectories forthree-dimensional exercise of the prior art have no efficiency becausethere is no device for various motion trajectories, which are the mostgreatest merits of the three-dimensional exercise, such as a handleframe A and a handle frame B, which will be described in the presentinvention later, and there is no means for axially fixing the handleshaft at a proper angle.

That is, U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,757 is nothing but a simply mechanicalapproach regardless of the tree-dimensional movement of the human body.

The reduction linkage needs several basic elements for realizing thesafe three-dimensional motion trajectories of the handle like thefour-rod linkage.

First, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the handle forms predeterminedmotion trajectories while carrying out the angular motion, an angle ofthe handle must be made perpendicularly to the power direction of thehuman body or according to demands of the human body.

Second, for improved three-dimensional exercise of target muscle of theupper part or the lower part of the human body, as shown in FIG. 2,since a basic motion trajectory for two arms movement must be nothorizontal but trapezoidal, the other end of the handle linkage with anangle α or α′ must perform a trapezoidal movement in view of a plane.

Third, the apparatus for three-dimensional exercise must resilientlyapply not a simply circular motion trajectory but concave or convextrajectories of the handle for a correct exercise to the target musclebecause the present invention is provided not for a simple jointmovement but a multi-joint movement of the upper part or the lower partof the human body.

Therefore, the end of the handle must be not directly connected to thehandle shaft, but first and second handle frames must be connected tothe handle shaft and the handle at predetermined angles. That is, theapparatus can induce safe and compatible motion trajectories in variousapplications if the handle is not directly connected to the handleshaft.

The present invention can overcome problems of overload due to a singlemotion trajectory of the conventional two-dimensional exercise apparatusand achieve an effective muscular growth by mounting a plurality ofhandles to implement various motion trajectories.

To solve the problems of the prior art, a basic setting of the reductionlinkage concept will be described hereinafter.

To set the handle safely, as shown in FIG. 2, the handle linkage must bemounted in the form of a trapezoid, and at this time, angles α and α′have the greatest effect in that the handle shaft and the first andsecond handle frames are fixed with each other at an angle Θ as shown inFIG. 4.

Therefore, the handle is set in a perpendicular direction to a movementdirection at a movement start point S as shown in FIG. 3, and a twistamount is about 60˜120 degrees. The angles Θ and α and α′ are offset ata movement end point f as shown in FIG. 4, so that the movement isfinished at right angles to the movement direction or at an anglenecessary for the human body. Therefore, as means for securing a safeangle similar to the angle of the handle formed between the movementstart point and the movement end point of the four-rod linkage, mountingmeans forming the angle Θ with the handle shaft must be provided.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, to induce concave or convex motiontrajectories or various three-dimensional motion trajectories necessaryfor the human body, the handle is not directly connected to the handleshaft, but is mounted in consideration of characteristics of the angularmotion thereof in view of a plane, namely, successive increase anddecrease of the angular motion.

Therefore, means for preventing the direct connection of the handle tothe handle shaft, i.e., the first handle frame must be provided.

The greatest merit of the three-dimensional exercise is to apply shockto muscle of the human body along various motion trajectories in variousways. For this, means for mounting two or more handles and fixing meansfor a proper shape of the handle, i.e., the second handle frame, must beprovided.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 11 and 12, as a connection part of the auxiliarylinkage is located lower than the handle linkage, the auxiliary linkagemust be directly connected to the handle side lever to reduce theabsolute length and the width of the linkage. At this time, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 6, ball joints of the auxiliary linkage are mountedaccording to the movement directions due to a limitation of a rockingangle of the ball joints.

A side lever, which is directly fixed to the handle shaft, is required.As described in the application, which was previously filed on May 27,2002 by the inventor of the present invention, if the side lever islocated at a predetermined position of the handle frame, there may occurinterference between the rocking angles of the ball joints as the handleframe is mounted on the handle shaft at a predetermined angle.Particularly, if the handle side lever is located on the handle frame,it is difficult to secure a point for a proper angular motion.Therefore, when the side lever is directly fixed to the handle shaft ina direction of the handle frame from a bearing housing, a safethree-dimensional movement of the handle can be induced.

The second handle frame can attain safety of the handle, which isprovided by the four-rod linkage, as being fixed to the handle shaft atthe angle Θ. Since a side of the handle is not directly connected to thehandle shaft, as shown in FIG. 5, the first handle frame is required asthe means using the successive increase and decrease of the angularmotion of the handle for the convex or concave motion trajectoriesnecessary for the human body in view of the plane.

Particularly, the second handle frame for mounting two or more handlesand for providing the shape of proper motion trajectory is connected tothe first handle frame at the angle Θ.

The first and second handle frames must be fixed only to the handleshaft when the handle linkage performs the angular motion at the anglesα and α′ for an independent trapezoidal biaxial movement. At this time,the handle shaft must be also fixed to the upper end of the handlelinkage at angles β and β′ as shown in FIG. 1.

For this, the bearing box must be fixed to the upper end of the handlelinkage at the angle β or β′. Particularly, to increase durability of aweight training apparatus of heavy load, bearings must be arranged at aproper distance from the handle shaft because direct arrangement of thebearing onto the handle linkage may reduce durability or increase volumeof the handle linkage. So, the bearing box is required to providedurability of the handle linkage and a proper angle setting of thehandle shaft for forming motion trajectories necessary for the humanbody.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the aboveproblems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise, which is anotherapproach of apparatuses for three-dimensional exercise using four-rodlinkage (Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2001-0059174 and10-2001-0078712 previously filed by the inventor of the presentinvention), and which can apply safe and efficient motion trajectoriesrealized by the four-rod linkage to a reduction linkage concept.

The four-rod linkage for realizing the three-dimensional motiontrajectories has an advantage in that an angle of a handle can bemaintained uniformly in a movement direction of the human body as anangular motion of the four-rod linkage is not influenced by rotation ofthe handle. However, the four-rod linkage is not good as havingcomplicated structure and form, a heavy volume, and expensivemanufacturing costs.

The reduction linkage concept proposed as an alternative measure of thefour-rod linkage may impose a heavy burden on an exerciser's wrists andforearms as the angular motion of the handle linkage has an influence onthe angle of the handle.

Therefore, in the reduction linkage concept, to secure safety realizedby the four-rod linkage, it is required to analyze characteristics ofmovement of the upper part of the human body and apply kinematics inconnection with angle displacement of the handle during the angularmotion.

When the exerciser does exercise, the upper and lower parts of the humanbody form not parallel motion trajectory but trapezoidal motiontrajectories. At this time, strictly speaking, the trapezoidal motiontrajectories must be concave or convex motion trajectories when they areseen in view of a plane from the human body. Therefore, the apparatusmust form concave or convex motion trajectories to exactly approachtarget muscle, and realize smooth and safe motion trajectories of theexerciser's shoulders, arms and wrists.

To this end, a first handle frame is required for avoiding a directconnection between a handle shaft and a side of the handle and forsetting the handle at a proper position, and a second frame is alsorequired for forming a predetermined angle.

When a handle linkage is axially fixed at a predetermined angle, theupper bearing box of the handle linkage is also maintained at apredetermined angle under the influence of the angle of the handlelinkage. Particularly, the angle between the handle shaft and the handleframe is the most influenced by the axially fixed angle of the handlelinkage.

A distance of the first handle frame and an angle between the firsthandle frame and the second handle frame are influenced by the axiallyfixed angle of the handle linkage.

As described above, the components must be mounted kinetically anddynamically, and a number of handles must be mounted on the secondhandle frame.

At this time, a handle side lever is fixed to a side of the handlecentering a bearing box, and separated from the handle frame. The reasonis that there may occur interference within a range of a rocking angleof ball joints of the lever since the first and second handle frames maybe connected to the handle shaft at a specific angle, and the lever maynot be located on the handle frame.

In the above structure, gearing means and a damper in stead of anauxiliary linkage can be utilized to enlarge the angular motion range ofthe handle. Furthermore, a cross joint mounted on the lower shaft canrealize wide three-dimensional motion trajectories, and has a guidelinkage for freedom and specified twist structure. The combinationbetween the cross joint and the guide linkage can realize motiontrajectories, which were not realized by the conventional reductiontrajectories.

At this time, the shape of the handle side lever and the front lever ofthe frame, which are connection parts of the auxiliary linkage using thecross joint, cannot suggest a realistic alternative method in terms ofthe position of the handle side lever disclosed in the U.S. patents.Particularly, shafts of the ball joints for changing a forward angularmotion to a laterally angular motion of the auxiliary linkage must bearranged perpendicularly to each other.

As described above, the apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobicexercise according to the present invention can providethree-dimensional motion trajectories suitable for the human body andallow the human body to do more improved exercise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fullyunderstood from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for three-dimensionalanaerobic exercise according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobicexercise;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a motion trajectory of the apparatus forthree-dimensional anaerobic exercise;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the motion trajectory of the apparatus forthree-dimensional anaerobic exercise;

FIG. 5 is a view showing concave and convex motion trajectories of ahandle of the apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobicexercise;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing a used state of U.S. Pat. No.5,769,757 as a prior art;

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are perspective view of a conventional apparatus forthree-dimensional anaerobic exercise using a four-rod linkage, which waspreviously filed by the inventor of the present invention;

FIG. 9 a is a plan view showing motion trajectories of the prior art;

FIG. 9 b is a side view showing the motion trajectorie of the prior art;

FIG. 10 is a front view showing an operation state of the prior art;

FIG. 11 is a side view showing the operation state of the prior art;

FIGS. 12 a and 12 b are brief side views for showing an operationprinciple of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a primary load machine of JapanesePatent as a prior art;

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a resistance section of the primary loadmachine of Japanese Patent;

FIG. 15 a is a perspective view of a first auxiliary linkage using adamper according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 b is a side view of the auxiliary linkage using the damperaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 16 a is a perspective view of a bearing box using a gearing methodaccording to the present invention; gearing method according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 17 a is a perspective view showing a shaft structure using a crossjoint according to the present invention;

FIG. 17 b is a side view showing the shaft structure using the crossjoint according to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing an embodiment where the shaftstructure using the cross joint and the bearing box using the gearingmethod are combined;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a state where the shaft structureusing the cross joint and a second auxiliary linkage are combined;

FIG. 20 a is a front view of FIG. 19;

FIG. 20 b is a side view of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 a is a plan view showing an installation position of fixingfragment fixed on a base frame of FIG. 19; and

FIG. 21 b is a plan view showing motion trajectories formed by FIG. 21a.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an apparatus for three-dimensionalanaerobic exercise, which can overcome restrictions of a conventionalreduction linkage in applying three-dimensional exercise by providing anangular motion of a handle suitable for movement directions of the humanbody as in three-dimensional motion trajectories of four-rod linkages ofKorean Patent Application Nos. 10-2001-0059174 and 10-2001-0078712,which were previously filed by the inventor of the present invention,and realizing stable motion trajectories, thereby allowing the humanbody to carry out three-dimensional exercise more safely andeffectively.

The present invention will now be described in detail in connection withpreferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As the three-dimensional anaerobic exercise apparatus 1, FIG. 1 shows anapparatus for breast exercise of the upper part of the human bodyaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The three-dimensional anaerobic exercise apparatus 1 includes anI-shaped base frame 2 and a tower 3. A seat 4 is mounted on the baseframe 2. Handle linkages 5 are inclinedly mounted at right and leftsides of the base frame 2 via bearings 6 in such a manner as to form anangle α in front of the seat 4, so that the handle linkages 5 canperform an angular motion in back and forth directions. A bearing box ismounted on the front end of the handle linkage 5, and first and secondhandle frames 8 and 9 are mounted in such a manner as to be rotated by ahandle shaft 10.

The first handle frame 8 is connected to the handle shaft 10, and thesecond handle frame 9 is connected to the first handle frame 8 at anangle Θ. At this time, a side lever 11 of the handle is fixed betweenthe first handle frame 8 and the bearing box 7 at a predeterminedsetting angle (which can be adjusted according to moving parts of thehuman body) formed with the first handle frame 8 in directions of thefirst and second handle frames 8 and 9 from the bearing box 7.

The upper end portion of an auxiliary linkage 12 is connected to thehandle side lever 11 via a ball joint 13, and a ball joint 13 a ismounted on the lower end portion of the auxiliary linkage 12 in such amanner as to form a distance d from a fixed lever 14 fixed to the lowerend of the front side of the base frame 2.

an auxiliary linkage (12) connected at an upper end to the handle sidelever (11) via a ball joint (13) and mounted at lower end on a fixedlever (14) fixed to the lower end of the front side of the base frame(2) via a ball joint (13 a) to form a distance (d).

After all, when the handle linkage 5 carries out the angular motionusing a distance difference between the handle linkage 5 and theauxiliary linkage 12, the handle shaft 10 performs a circular motion, sothat the handle 15 mounted on the first and second handle frames 8 and 9provides a three-dimensional motion trajectory as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4to allow the exerciser to do three-dimensional exercise.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the handle linkage 5 is axiallymounted on the base frame 2 at the angle α or α′ for trapezoidal andangular motion, and the auxiliary linkage 12, as shown in FIG. 1, isconnected to the fixed lever 14 of the base frame 2 via the ball joint13 a at the predetermined distance d from the front side or the rearside of the lower portion of the handle linkage 5. At this time, theball joint 13 a is axially mounted in the same direction as the angularmotion of the handle linkage 5, namely, in a direction that the balljoint 13 a located at the lower portion of the auxiliary linkage 12 isperpendicular to the ball joint 13 located at the upper portion of theauxiliary linkage 12.

After that, as means for axially mounting the handle shaft 10 at anglesβ and β′, the bearing box 7 is fixed on the upper end of the handlelinkage 5.

The handle shaft 10 is axially mounted to the bearing box 7, and thefirst handle frame 8 is fixed to an end of the handle shaft 10 in such amanner that an end of the handle 15 is not directly connected to thehandle shaft 10. The second handle frame 9 is connected to the handleshaft 10 at the angle Θ in such a manner as to adjust an angle of thehandle 15 or to mount two or more handles 15.

The handle side lever 11 is fixed between the bearing box 7 and thefirst handle frame 8 in such a manner as to maintain a predeterminedangle with respect to the first handle frame 8. The handle side lever 11is connected to the auxiliary linkage 12 via the ball joint 13, and theball joint 13 performs a smooth angular motion similar to an angularmotion of the handle shaft 10.

Based on the three-dimensional anaerobic exercise apparatus 1 accordingto the present invention, the components of the present invention forrealizing the safe motion trajectories necessary for the human body inview of the side and plane as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 will be describedin more detail.

First, the angle α and α′ of the handle linkage 5 is to obtain atrapezoidal structure for multi-joint exercise of the human body, and toinduce organic composition with other components.

In case of an apparatus for exercise of the upper part of the humanbody, when the handle linkage 5 is axially fixed at the angle α and α′and performs the angular motion at angles r and r′, for the angularmotion of the handle suitable for the human body, an angle range of r+r′does not exceed 65 degrees and a motion trajectory a of the upper partof the human body does not exceed 65 cm. Therefore, the length b of thehandle linkage 5 is at least 60 cm or more.

When the handle linkage 5 is moved at the angle of r+r′, as shown inFIG. 3, the angle r has an influence on the angle Θ formed between thehandle shaft 10 and the second handle frame 9 when the handle is locatedat a side of the human body. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, theangle Θ is influenced by the angle α when the handle 15 is located infront of the human body.

After all, when the angles α, β and r, the length b of the handlelinkage 5, and the motion trajectory length a of the upper part are inorganic relationship one another, the reduction linkage can realizesafely three-dimensional motion trajectories in view of the plane andside.

To obtain motion trajectories necessary for the human body's wrists,arms and shoulders, when the motion trajectory is seen from the sideview as shown in FIG. 3, the angle Θ is required for offset of the angler, and when the motion trajectory is seen from the plane view as shownin FIG. 4, the angle α is required for offset of the angle Θ.

To improve movement of the target muscle by realizing the safelythree-dimensional motion trajectories more suitable for the human body,the successive increase and decrease of the angular motion of the handle15 is used.

To realize the concave motion trajectories from the human body as shownin FIGS. 4 and 5, the motion trajectories formed in view of the planeare the concave or convex motion trajectories from the human bodyaccording to the position of the start point S as shown in FIG. 5. Toapply the motion trajectories to the human body, the first handle frame8 for connecting the handle shaft 10 and the second handle frame 9 atthe angle Θ must be provided for constructing the handle 15corresponding to portions relative to the start point S and the endpoint f, and the first handle frame 8 must be fixed to the handle shaft10 for the safe motion trajectories.

As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus requires means for mounting two ormore handles 15 for the safe motion trajectories, differently from atwo-dimensional apparatus, which simply changes only the form of thehandle.

That is, a first handle 15 a starts the movement at a range wider than asecond handle 15 b and has an angular motion of 60˜120 degrees, butfinishes the movement at a range narrower than the second handle 15 b.So, the first handle 15 a can increase approach of the target muscle andreduce approach of other muscle in comparison with the second handle 15b, so that the human body can do exercise in various motion trajectoriesusing one apparatus.

The first handle frame 8 is provided for mounting of two or more handles15, and the second handle frame 9 is connected to the first handle frame8 at the angle Θ for forming the angle Θ of the handle 15.

A kinetic approach of the components is required for the organiccombination of the three-dimensional motion trajectories.

First, differently from FIG. 10 (prior art), as shown in FIG. 5, theball joint 13 a mounted on the lower end portion of the auxiliarylinkage 12 is axially mounted similar to the angular motion direction ofthe handle linkage 5, and the ball joint 13 mounted on the upper endportion of the auxiliary linkage 12 is also axially mounted similar tothe angular motion direction of the handle 15, so that the ball joints13 and 13 a having the restricted rocking angle (40˜50 degrees) to themovement direction can absorb the angular motions of the handle linkage5 and the handle 15 when the handle linkage 5 and the handle 15 performwide angular motions. After all, the shaft of the handle 15 and theshaft of the handle linkage 5 are operated in a cross way to each other,and the ball joints 13 and 13 a are operated in a cross way to eachother to absorb the angular motion of the handle 15 and the handlelinkage 5, and so, the angular motion range of the handle necessary tothe upper part of the human body must be set from 60 degrees to 120degrees.

Differently from FIG. 10 (prior art), as shown in FIG. 6, for the safelythree-dimensional motion trajectories, the length of the handle linkage5 and the length of the auxiliary linkage 12 are similar to each otheror the same. For this, the ball joint 13 located at the upper endportion of the auxiliary linkage 12 is mounted in such a manner that thehandle side lever 11 is fixed to the handle shaft 10 in the direction ofthe handle 15 from the bearing box 7.

Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 13, the angular motion of the handle 15 isincreased or decreased. If the auxiliary linkage 12 is enlarged as shownin FIG. 11, it is difficult to obtain the stable angular motion of thehandle 15.

On the other hand, if the auxiliary linkage 12 is somewhat shorter thanthe handle linkage 5, the properties of the angular motion of the handle15 and the compensation can be attained.

As shown in FIG. 1, to apply various motion trajectories necessary forthe human body, the bearing box 7 is fixed to the front end of thehandle linkage 5 at the angle β or β″, and at this time, the handleshaft 10 is axially fixed at the angle β or β″.

Considering peculiarity of the human body, influence of the components,and restrictions of range, the angle of the bearing box 7 fixed to thehandle linkage 5 can be controlled to β or β″.

For instance, if the angles r and θ do not correspond to each other, theangle of the handle shaft 10 is controlled to β for approach to thehuman body, and if the angles α and θ do not correspond to each other,the angle of the handle shaft 10 is controlled to β′ for obtaining themotion trajectories necessary for the human body.

In the above, the basic structure of the three-dimensional anaerobicexercise apparatus 1 is described. Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 15 ato 16 b, means for increasing the restricted angular motion will bedescribed in detail.

As shown in FIGS. 15 a and 15 b, a damper 16 is mounted in place of theauxiliary linkage 12 to increase the angular momentum of the handle 15and resistance of the exerciser within the restricted section. Anadjustable screwing part 17, which uses a male and female screwingmethod, is used so as to control the angular motion range of the handle15.

In FIGS. 15 a and 15 b, the angular motion more than 180 degrees isimpossible, but as shown in FIGS. 16 a and 16 b, the upper and lowerbearing boxes 7 are in close contact with each other, and the spur gears19 and 20, which are axially fixed to the handle shaft 10 and the sidelever shaft 18 in respective, are connected to the upper and lowerbearing boxes 7 respectively, so that the angular motion can beincreased by the gear ratio.

The handle shaft 10 and the side lever shaft 18 must be axially mountedin parallel with each other, and if the handle shaft 10 and the sidelever shaft 18 have the same trajectory in, the basic three-dimensionalmotion trajectories, as shown in FIGS. 16 a and 16 b, the fixed lever 14of the base frame 2 is located in the opposite direction to the shafts.

FIGS. 17 a and 17 b show an example where the cross joint 21 is appliedfor allowing the handle linkage 5 to perform both a back and forthmovement and a lateral movement. A shaft 21 a of a side of the crossjoint 21 is axially mounted on the bearing 6, and a shaft 21 b of theother side is axially mounted to the lower end portion of the handlelinkage 5.

A connection lever 22 is axially fixed to an end portion of the frontside of the shaft 21 a, and the other end portion of the shaft 21 a isconnected to the lower end portion of the auxiliary linkage 12 via theball joint 13 a. At this time, the connection lever 22 is in an L shapefor absorbing the rocking angle of the ball joint 13 a.

Meanwhile, FIG. 18 shows an example where the spur gears 19 and 20axially mounted to the bearing boxes 7 of FIGS. 16 a and 16 b and thecross joint 21 of FIGS. 17 a and 17 b are combined with each other.

In FIG. 19, fixing pieces 23 and 24 are mounted on the handle linkage 5and the base frame 2 in the state of FIGS. 17 a and 17 b, and anotherauxiliary linkage 27 is mounted between the fixing pieces 23 and 24 viaball joints 25 and 26. The auxiliary linkage 27 is to induce thethree-dimensional motion trajectory of the handle linkage 5 using thecharacteristics of the cross joint 21.

Referring to FIGS. 20 a and 20 b, the trajectory of the handle 15 caninduce the trajectory as shown in FIG. 21 b according to the position ofthe fixing pieces 24 shown in FIG. 21 a.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the conventional two-dimensional anaerobic exerciseapparatus cannot provide a safe motion trajectory necessary for thehuman body as using single motion trajectory and single resistance, butthe three-dimensional anaerobic exercise apparatus according to thepresent invention can safely apply resistance to the human body by usingmeans such as a cam.

The three-dimensional anaerobic exercise apparatus according to thepresent invention can completely control the angular motion of joints ofthe human body, and so, can control various patterns, such as successiveincrease and decrease of resistance as providing the safe motiontrajectories.

Furthermore, the present invention can overcome the restrictions andoverload problem of the two-dimensional anaerobic exercise apparatus ashaving two or more handles 15 a and 15 b. That is, the present inventionis very effective to muscle growth by applying various impacts to themuscles as providing a safe joint structure at low load.

The four-rod linkage concept proposed in the application previouslyfiled by the inventor of the present invention secures the safe motiontrajectories, but has several problems in that a manufacturing processof the apparatus is very complicated and manufacturing costs are tooexpensive. As a result of studies of the four-rod linkage, restrictionsof reduction can be overcome by approach of the reduced-rod linkageconcept. So, the reduced-rod linkage concept can be commercially usedsince the manufacturing process is simple and the manufacturing costsare inexpensive even though the reduced-rod linkage concept requiresvarious data for motion trajectories corresponding to those formed bythe human body.

In the conventional reduced-rod linkage concept, the entire size of thelinkage is large because the handle has a restriction in change ofangle. However, the present invention can increase approach to the humanbody through a free change of angle of the handle, can considerablyreduce the entire size of the linkage, and increase convenience when theexerciser seats on the seat of the apparatus.

In addition, the conventional two-dimensional anaerobic exerciseapparatus has a restriction in the motion trajectories of the handle inview of the plane, and cannot obtain the angle necessary for the humanbody as the angle of the handle is influenced by the angular motion ofthe handle linkage. However, the present invention can realize themotion trajectories. necessary for the human body by providing means forutilizing various data of the three-dimensional motion trajectoriesprovided by the conventional two-dimensional anaerobic exerciseapparatus or the conventional three-dimensional anaerobic exerciseapparatus having the four-rod linkage, thereby contributing towell-balanced growth of the human body.

While the present invention has been described with reference to theparticular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by theembodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciatedthat those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodimentswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

1. An apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise comprising: anI-shaped base frame (2); a tower (3) mounted on the top surface of theI-shaped base frame (2); a seat (4) mounted on the base frame (2);handle linkages (5) each inclinedly mounted at right and left sides ofthe base frame (2) via bearings (6) in such a manner as to form an angleα in front of the seat (4), to perform an angular motion back and forth;a bearing box (7) mounted on the front end of the handle linkage (5);first and second handle frames (8, 9) rotatably mounted on a handleshaft (10), the first handle frame (8) being connected to the handleshaft (10), the second handle frame (9) being connected to the handleshaft (10) at an angle Θ; a handle side lever (11) fixed between thefirst handle frame (8) and the bearing box (7) in such a manner as toform a predetermined angle with respect to the first handle frame (8);and an auxiliary linkage (12) connected at an upper end to the handleside lever (11) via a ball joint (13) and mounted at lower end on afixed lever (14) fixed to the lower end of the front side of the baseframe (2) via a ball joint (13 a) to form a distance (d).
 2. Theapparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exercise according to claim 1,wherein the handle linkages (5) are axially mounted on the base frame(2) at angles α and α′ for trapezoidally angular motion of the right andleft directions, the auxiliary linkage (12) is connected to the fixedlever (14) via the ball joint (13 a) in front of or behind the lowerportion of the handle linkage (5) on the base frame (2) and is separatedfrom the handle linkage (5) at the predetermined distance (d), the balljoints (13, 13 a) located on the upper and lower portions of theauxiliary linkage (12) are arranged in a perpendicular direction to eachother, the bearing box (7) is fixedly mounted to the lower end of thehandle linkage (5) so that the handle shaft (10) is axially mounted tothe bearing box (7) at an angle of β or β′, the first handle frame (8)is fixed to the handle shaft (10) axially mounted to the bearing box(7), and the second handle frame (9) is connected to the handle shaft(10) at the angle Θ in such a manner as to adjust an angle of a handle(15) or to mount two or more handles (15), the handle side lever (11) isfixed between the bearing box (7) and the first handle frame (8) mountedon the handle shaft (10) to form a predetermined angle with respect tothe first handle frame (8), and the handle side lever (11) is connectedto the auxiliary linkage (12) via the ball joint (13), and performs anangular motion in a direction similar to the direction of an angularmotion of the handle shaft (10) for a smooth angular motion of the balljoint (13).
 3. The apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exerciseaccording to claim 1, wherein the handle side lever (11) and the fixedlever (14) are connected to the ball joints (13, 13 a) via a damper(16), and the damper (16) has a screw adjusting part (17), which isadjusted by male and female screws, to control a range of the angularmotion of the handle (15).
 4. The apparatus for three-dimensionalanaerobic exercise according to claim 1, wherein upper and lower bearingboxes (7) are mounted on the upper end portion of the handle linkage(5), a spur gear (19) is axially fixed to the handle shaft (10) mountedon the upper bearing box (7), and another spur gear (20) is axiallyfixed to a side lever shaft (18) axially mounted on the lower bearingbox (7) axially fixed to the handle side lever (11), so that the angularmomentum can be controlled by control of a gear ratio between the spurgears (19, 20).
 5. The apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobicexercise according to claim 4, wherein the handle shaft (10) and theside lever shaft (18) are axially mounted in parallel with each other,and the fixed lever (14) is fixed on the rear side of the base frame (2)to induce three-dimensional motion trajectories.
 6. The apparatus forthree-dimensional anaerobic exercise according to claim 1, wherein ashaft (21 a) of a side of a cross joint (21) is axially mounted on thebearing (6) and a shaft (21 b) of the other side of the cross joint (21)is axially mounted on the lower end portion of the handle linkage 5 soas to move the handle linkage (5) in all directions, and an L-shapedconnection lever (22) is axially mounted on an end of the front of theshaft (21 a), and the lower end portion of the auxiliary linkage (12) isconnected to the other end portion of the shaft (21 a) with the balljoint (13 a).
 7. The apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exerciseaccording to claim 6, wherein fixing pieces (23, 24) are mounted on thehandle linkage (5) and the base frame (2) respectively, and anotherauxiliary linkage (27) is mounted between the fixing pieces (23, 24) viaball joints (25, 26) so as to induce the three-dimensional motiontrajectories of the handle linkage 5 using characteristics of the crossjoint (21).
 8. The apparatus for three-dimensional anaerobic exerciseaccording to claim 1, wherein a shaft (21 a) of a side of a cross joint(21) is axially mounted on the bearing (6) and a shaft (21 b) of theother side of the cross joint (21) is axially mounted on the lower endportion of the handle linkage 5 so as to move the handle linkage (5) inall directions, an L-shaped connection lever (22) is axially mounted onan end of the front of the shaft (21 a), and the lower end portion ofthe auxiliary linkage (12) is connected to the other end portion of theshaft (21 a) with the ball joint (13 a), and upper and lower bearingboxes (7) are mounted on the upper end portion of the handle linkage(5), a spur gear (19) is axially fixed to the handle shaft (10) mountedon the upper bearing box (7), and another spur gear (20) is axiallyfixed to a side lever shaft (18) axially mounted on the lower bearingbox (7) axially fixed to the handle side lever (11), so that the angularmomentum can be controlled by control of a gear ratio between the spurgears (19, 20).